Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Mervyn LeRoy

Writers:

Dalton Trumbo (screenplay)
Ted W. Lawson (book) ...
(more)

Release Date:

November 1944 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History | War

Tagline:

Heart-Warming Romance . . . Stark, Sensational Drama! Thrills! Action! Adventure! ...Ripped From The Heart!

Plot:

In the wake of Pearl Harbor, a young lieutenant leaves his expectant wife to volunteer for a secret bombing mission which will take the war to the Japanese homeland.

Plot Keywords:

China | Bomber | Aircraft Carrier | Japan | Tokyo

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Van Johnson	...	Ted Lawson - Crew of the Ruptured Duck
Robert Walker	...	David Thatcher - Crew of the Ruptured Duck
Tim Murdock	...	Dean Davenport - Crew of the Ruptured Duck
Don DeFore	...	Charles McClure - Crew of the Ruptured Duck
Herbert Gunn	...	Bob Clever - Crew of the Ruptured Duck (as Gordon McDonald)
Phyllis Thaxter	...	Ellen Lawson
Stephen McNally	...	'Doc' White (as Horace McNally)
John R. Reilly	...	'Shorty' Manch
Robert Mitchum	...	Bob Gray
Scott McKay	...	Davey Jones
Donald Curtis	...	Lieut. Randall
Louis Jean Heydt	...	Lieut. Miller
William 'Bill' Phillips	...	Don Smith (as Wm. 'Bill' Phillips)
Douglas Cowan	...	'Brick' Holstrom
Paul Langton	...	Captain 'Ski' York
Leon Ames	...	Lieut. Jurika
Bill Williams	...	Bud Felton
Robert Bice	...	'Jig' White
Dr. Hsin Kung	...	Dr. Chung
Benson Fong	...	Young Dr. Chung
Ching Wah Lee	...	'Guerilla Charlie'
Alan Napier	...	Mr. Parker
Ann Shoemaker	...	Mrs. Parker
Dorothy Morris	...	Jane (as Dorothy Ruth Morris)
Jacqueline White	...	Emmy York
Selena Royle	...	Mrs. Reynolds
Spencer Tracy	...	Lieutenant Colonel James H. Doolittle
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Walter Sande	...	General (scenes deleted)
Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams	...	Bit Part (scenes deleted)
Morris Ankrum	...	William F. Halsey, Captain of the 'Hornet' (uncredited)
Jack Arkin	...	Jitterbug (uncredited)
Tom Avera	...	Pilot in Officers' Club (uncredited)
Steve Barclay	...	Pilot in Officers' Club (uncredited)
Carlyle Blackwell Jr.	...	Pilot Singer (uncredited)
Karin Booth	...	Girl in Officers' Club (uncredited)
Steve Brodie	...	MP Corporal (uncredited)
Ralph Brooke	...	Sailor (uncredited)
Hazel Brooks	...	Girl in Officers' Club (uncredited)
Ralph Brooks	...	Sailor (uncredited)
Lucille Casey	...	Girl in Officers' Club (uncredited)
Wally Cassell	...	Sailor (uncredited)
Keye Chang	...	Chinese Officer (uncredited)
Luke Chan	...	Chinese Runner (uncredited)
Mary Chan	...	School Teacher (uncredited)
Lyle Clark	...	Pilot in Officers' Club (uncredited)
Eleanor Counts	...	Jitterbug (uncredited)
Elizabeth Dailey	...	Girl in Officers' Club (uncredited)
John Dehner	...	Lieutenant Commander (uncredited)
Myrna Dell	...	Girl in Officers' Club (uncredited)
Hal Derwin	...	Singer in Officers' Club (uncredited)
Natalie Draper	...	Girl in Officers' Club (uncredited)
Johnny Duncan	...	Jitterbug (uncredited)
Blake Edwards	...	Lt. Smith's crewman (uncredited)
Harold Fong	...	Captain of Patrol Boat (uncredited)
John Gannon	...	Lt. Smith's crewman (uncredited)
Charles Gordon	...	Sgt. Williams (uncredited)
Genevieve Grazis	...	Jitterbug (uncredited)
Eddie Hall	...	Joe (uncredited)
Harry Hayden	...	Judge (uncredited)
Bill Healy	...	Eglin Captain (uncredited)
Shirlee Howard	...	Girl in Officers' Club (uncredited)
John James	...	Lt. Smith's crewman (uncredited)
Virgil Johanson	...	Eglin Colonel (uncredited)
John Kellogg	...	C-47 Transport Pilot (uncredited)
Mike Killian	...	Sailor (uncredited)
Charles King Jr.	...	Sailor (uncredited)
Michael Knudsen	...	Pilot in Officers' Club (uncredited)
Michael Kostrick	...	Pilot in Officers' Club (uncredited)
Joan Lawrence	...	Girl in Officers' Club (uncredited)
Edith Leach	...	Girl (uncredited)
Martin Lowell	...	Pilot in Officers' Club (uncredited)
Ann Lundeen	...	Girl in Officers' Club (uncredited)
Bob MacLean	...	Pilot in Officers' Club (uncredited)
Peggy Maley	...	Girl in Officers' Club (uncredited)
Jack McClendon	...	Dick Joyce (uncredited)
Beryl McCutcheon	...	Girl in Officers' Club (uncredited)
Bob McCutchin	...	Co-Pilot (uncredited)
Sybil Merritt	...	Girl in Officers' Club (uncredited)
Harlan Miller	...	Pilot in Officers' Club (uncredited)
Lorraine Miller	...	Girl in Officers' Club (uncredited)
William Moss	...	Ship's Clerk (uncredited)
Frances E. Neal	...	Girl in Officers' Club (uncredited)
Jay Norris	...	Hallmark (uncredited)
Moroni Olsen	...	General (uncredited)
Noreen Roth	...	Girl in Officers' Club (uncredited)
Erin Selwyn	...	Girl in Officers' Club (uncredited)
Elaine Shepard	...	Girl in Officers' Club (uncredited)
Arthur Space	...	Deck Officer (uncredited)
Bob Thom	...	Lieutenant Commander (uncredited)
Brad Towne	...	Pilot in Officers' Club (uncredited)
Gordon Trigg	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
H.T. Tsiang	...	Wang Tsung (uncredited)
Peter Varney	...	Spike Henderson (uncredited)
Will Walls	...	Hoss Wyler (uncredited)
Richard Wang	...	Chinese Officer (uncredited)
Eve Whitney	...	Girl in Officers' Club (uncredited)
Kay Williams	...	Girl in Officers' Club (uncredited)

Directed by
Mervyn LeRoy

Writing credits
Dalton Trumbo		(screenplay)
Ted W. Lawson		(book) (as Captain Ted W. Lawson) and
Robert Considine		(book)

Produced by
Sam Zimbalist	....	producer

Original Music by
Herbert Stothart

Cinematography by
Harold Rosson		(director of photography)
Robert Surtees		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Frank Sullivan

Art Direction by
Cedric Gibbons
Paul Groesse

Set Decoration by
Edwin B. Willis

Makeup Department
Jack Dawn	....	makeup designer

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Leo Pepin	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Ralph S. Hurst	....	associate set decorator

Sound Department
Douglas Shearer	....	recording director

Special Effects by
A. Arnold Gillespie	....	special effects
Donald Jahraus	....	special effects
Warren Newcombe	....	special effects
Donald Jahraus	....	model maker (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Kay Dean	....	associate costume supervisor
Irene	....	costume supervisor

Music Department
Murray Cutter	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Wally Heglin	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Jimmy Garland	....	script clerk (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1944) (USA) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1955) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1945) (France) (theatrical)
• Státní Pujcovna Filmu (194?) (Czechoslovakia) (theatrical)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1988) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2007) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

138 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Mandarin

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #10248) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Canada:PG (video rating) | Finland:S | Spain:T | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Chico, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Feature film debuts of Tim Murdock, Scott McKay and John R. Reilly.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The map that Col. Doolittle shows the crews at the beginning of the mission training indicating the location of the four auxiliary airfields has no relationship at all with the Eglin Army Air Field reservation or the northwest Gulfcoast of Florida where the training took place.

Quotes:

Lieutenant Jacob 'Shorty' Manch: Well feed me corn and watch me grow! How did all this scum get in here?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Seinfeld: The Keys (#3.23)" (1992)

Soundtrack:

The Army Air Corps Song

It's about the Doolittle Raid.

I know its a World War Two propaganda movie. And I know that Hollywood treatments of historical subjects must be taken with a huge boulder-size grain of salt. That being said, this is a credible movie that is worth watching. The fact is that the Doolittle Raid DID happen, that in early 1942 the outcome of the war against Japan was at best uncertain, and that Japanese aggression post Pearl Harbor posed a clear and imminent threat to the United States. It's hard to believe that Japan was THAT powerful, but it was. Japan occupied or controlled about one-quarter of the surface of the world, including most of eastern China, all of Manchuria, the ENTIRE Korean peninsula, ALL of southeast Asia, including ALL of Indonesia and Singapore, the Philippines, and the entire western Pacific Ocean. And Japan accomplished this ALL BY ITSELF. So the Doolittle Raid was a truly momentous event, as the movie aptly shows, and thus even with all the clichés and all the stilted and corny acting, the movie is still worth watching. The Doolittle Raid marked the beginning of the end for Japan, because it blew away the myth of Japanese invincibility and proved to the world that it was just a matter of time before a fleet of sixteen B-25 Mitchell bombers would be followed by huge air armadas of B-29s that would crush Japanese militarism for all time and eventually convert Japan from an implacable enemy to an allie and a friend.